VE party, September, 1945

THEY SAY THAT EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY...

But so often, while the photograph survives, the story that goes with it is lost.  However in this case a dramatic tale was rediscovered after another picture of the same event was spotted in "Historic Lymm in Colour" by Mrs Helena Park, (nee Kay). 

The picture shows a VE day party in 1945 with the children in fancy dress for a party on Crouchley Lane. 

Guest of honour was young Corrie-Anne Dodd. That’s her wearing the May Queen crown as the children create their own mini-May Queen to welcome home Corrie-Anne after six anxious years.   It's quite a story.

Before the war Corrie-Anne and her family had moved from Lymm to Holland, where her father had a post with an insurance company.  It was a great adventure at first, though the threat of war in 1939 must have caused some anxiety.  But the family felt safe at first as Holland had been neutral during World War One and had declared neutrality again.  That sense of security was shattered on May 10 1940 when the Luftwaffe attacked and a German invasion was underway. Five days later, Holland had surrendered and the Dodd family, along with many others, made a desperate attempt to flee the country. They must have thought they had succeeded when they got on a boat heading for England  but it was bombed and the whole family ended up in the sea.  Corrie-Anne’s father badly injured his foot during the scramble for lifeboats and the rescue that ensued. All were saved and after that, the family managed to sink into the background and keep a very low profile in occupied Holland for the whole of the war  - as they could have risked transportation if identified as British.  Conditions got steadily worse as the war progressed and there was widespread starvation toward the end, leaving brothers, sisters and cousins in Lymm beside themselves with anxiety. 

Then in May 1945 the Canadians liberated the country and within days, Corrie-Anne, with her mother Nan and little brother Peter, had hitched a ride on a boat across the North Sea.  Helena, Corrie-Anne’s cousin takes up the story. 

“You can imagine the excitement. My mother dropped the phone and we were on the train to Altrincham before she had calmed down enough to tell me what was happening. Mother Nan had kept the children healthy, but she herself was suffering from starvation and needed medical attention. She was very bent as I recall but she lived to be 90. She had the generosity of spirit of all the Kay Sisters and I loved them all.”

In the photograph Corrie-Anne has been given the May Queen crown to wear.  Her cousin Jose is in the white dress with the bouquet. Corrie-Anne’s mum, Nan is at the back with the parasol. Next to her is her sister Jesse Spencley who lived at 1 Crouchley Lane. 

Corrie-Anne returned to Holland later and married and is still living there. Cousin Jose is in Australia but has been sent a copy of the book, Historic Lymm in Colour.